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Construction threatens local landmark eatery

It’s been a familiar story for the last year or so: Heavy road construction pushes a beloved local business to the brink of extinction. Long-running eateries like Deli Casino and Tacomania have survived challen

It’s been a familiar story for the last year or so: Heavy road construction pushes a beloved local business to the brink of extinction. Long-running eateries like Deli Casino and Tacomania have survived challenges presented by drawn-out construction projects, as have newly established local spots. In recent months, construction has been underway on Hollywood Avenue, near the intersection of Hollywood and Union – just outside the front door of Eddie’s Restaurant.

For folks who don’t know, Eddie’s Restaurant is, without a doubt, one of Shreveport-Bossier’s most historically significant eateries. Though it has not always been included in conversations about Shreveport’s local food traditions, this neighborhood eatery deserves to be mentioned alongside restaurants like Herby-K’s, Strawn’s Eat Shop, Fertitta’s Delicatessen and Ernest’s Orleans. In 2015, Southern Living magazine named it one of the “Best Soul Food Restaurants in the South.”

Eddie Hughes, who’d worked in the legendary kitchen of Freeman & Harris Café since age 8, established Eddie’s in 1978. My own research and the research of others points to Hughes as one of the originators of Shreveport-style stuffed shrimp, which became a house specialty at Freeman & Harris Café during Hughes’s time at the restaurant. Since being introduced as a Freeman & Harris Café specialty in the mid-1950s, those stuffed shrimp have gone on to be associated with dozens of other popular local restaurants.

There’s no telling how many kids have been sent to college or how many families have been clothed and fed thanks to the popularity of these spicy treats. In Shreveport, stuffed shrimp are more than a popular dish – they are an economic engine. Now, owing to heavy street construction and the City of Shreveport’s ongoing water billing woes, that engine appears to be at risk.

Hughes’s children, including his daughter, Mavice Hughes Thigpen, and his son, Geno Hughes, currently own Eddie’s Restaurant. Inspired by the community’s rally to assist Deli Casino, they’d like to ask that local food lovers consider a visit in the coming weeks. Eddie’s Seafood and Soul Food is located at 1956 Hollywood Avenue in Shreveport. Hours are 11 a.m.to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. Saturday business hours are planned for the month of December. Access to the parking lot is partially obscured by traffic cones, but parking is available. And the stuffed shrimp are as delicious as ever.

“We’ve been here, and we’re just trying to stay here,” Thigpen says. “And it’s important that we stay here, because my father started the whole stuffed shrimp thing.”

At the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau, where I work, I have seen firsthand the growing importance of historic local eateries. As culinary tourism continues to grow – fueled by food television and the popularity of “foodie” culture – local joints, dives and “hole in the wall” eateries have become major tourist attractions. Today’s foodies aren’t limiting themselves to fine dining; they travel to Nashville to eat hot fried chicken at Prince’s and trek the backroads of South Carolina to dine at Scott’s Barbecue.

In Eddie’s Restaurant, Shreveport has an eatery that – despite being is business for nearly 40 years – has only recent begun to be appreciated by national food media for its food and its history. If you value this kind of local business, please consider stopping by for some delicious stuffed shrimp, a smothered pork chop special or even a cheeseburger in the coming weeks. Your business will be appreciated.

To see a short documentary film about the history of stuffed shrimp in Shreveport-Bossier, visit www.Shreveport-Bossier.org and click on the stuffed shrimp link.

Chris Jay is the public relations and social media manager for the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau. Email Chris at cjay@sbctb.org.